February, 2005 Calendar In This Issue: Confirmation Class A Christmas Card Greeting The Genesis of a Kitchen The Christian Right Via Media Transition

by Arthur Morey, Chair
Transition Committee

Tolstoy titled a story, "God Sees the Truth but Waits," meaning that truth will out, but only in its own good time, or God's.

St. A's now has an inescapable opportunity to remake ourselves. The process that leads the church to this blossoming or metamorphosis began at least thirty-five years ago when the fire destroyed the church proper but spared the school. (A pamphlet on the fire is available.) Crossroads School began in our building and then metastasized to its new campus. The Waldorf School moved in. Time passed; laws, customs, and patterns evolved. Even seven years ago, when I arrived, there were fewer kids and fewer young professionals than today. There was no Hartshorn, no Joyce, neither men's groups nor women's groups as we know them. There was not such a landmark kitchen as opened last weekend. There is now a lot of energy in the parish, looking for an outlet.

The school building has declined as we have prospered. It is out of compliance with city and federal codes. It would need a radical makeover to remain functional. At the same time, the Waldorf School is getting too big for its present surroundings. Waldorf must find a new location very soon. The vestry foresaw a need for the church to rebuild a couple of years ago. A succession of transition committees has worked to reevaluate our resources-the campus on 4th street and the property across the alley on 5th street. The mission of these committees has been conservancy-save the spirit of the church, save the best of the church's aesthetics, most important, safeguard the parish financially. The school currently provides us over $150,000 per year. We need to guarantee and enhance that income.

Simultaneously, following its own logic, Santa Monica has become more dynamic and attractive. It is consciously making itself over. Property values have risen. It now would be financially advantageous for us to rebuild. We could become more profitable by finding the right commercial client to replace the school. We can create meeting rooms, classrooms, even clergy housing. We can reach out more effectively, presenting ourselves differently, refashioning our relationship with the community. We can make ourselves more inviting-reworking the courtyard into something extraordinary in this beautiful city, poor in parks having more meeting space open to community groups. We can become more perfectly ourselves as we are and wish to be.

The current transition committee, the third, is trying to refine our possibilities into manageable choices. We are requesting proposals from developers and talking to project managers and architects. We are immensely excited about the church's opportunities. At the parish meeting, we'll invite you to help us redefine what the church is and could be. We want to learn what the parish is most reluctant to part with and what, tangible or abstract, it feels it must conserve. God sees the truth but, according to me, waits on us to help him make it happen.

Copyright © 2005 St. Augustine by-the-Sea